


Your Life’s Been Written Into Plot Lines

by JuicyLeafs



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Persona 3
Genre: Bittersweet, Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Gen, In this household we cry over the similiarities between noctis and minato, Persona 3 Spoilers, Tfw u meet a kid in the abyss and hes your friend now, The general main crew from ffxv are mentioned a lot, This is so niche and its a goddamn mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26313997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuicyLeafs/pseuds/JuicyLeafs
Summary: It's- there's no way around it. Noctis is looking at akid. He's probably around Iris' age, with unkempt blue hair hanging over one eye, and what looks like a school uniform."Who are you?" Noctis asks again, and his heart aches. Who is this kid, for someone so young to be stuck here in the void, unable to leave like he is? How long has Minato been here, for him to look so tired?
Relationships: Persona 3 Protagonist & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	Your Life’s Been Written Into Plot Lines

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Road Less Taken from the Persona Q2 ost.
> 
> This one time not long after beating ffxv i spent like a good chunk of time rambling in my own personal discord about how similiar minato n noctis are. Had an accident as kids. Sad. Sleepy. Love their friends. Only want to keep them safe. Died to protect them and their worlds. Final camp n rooftop scene :'(
> 
> I tried to draft this fic like 3 fucking times. Its so messy n i apologise for it but i am so sick of looking at it. Also this is rlly fucking niche n i apologise but GOD im having an emotions

No one ever told Noctis that the crystal would do this to him. They'd never thought to tell him - as the King of Kings, Bringer of Light, Saviour of the World - that touching it would seal him. That it would pull him in and keep him close and not let go. Noctis doesn't know how long he has to spend in here, and as the words of the prophecy fall from Bahamut's lips - as he realises what he has to do - Noctis struggles harder and harder to get free.

But the crystal's grip is cold and unrelenting, and it will not let him go until the gods decide it is Time. Time for Noctis to live as the King of the Prophecy, return the sun to the sky, and lay down his life for his people, in exchange for everyone who died in his name. 

It's bullshit. Noctis doesn't want it - he wants _none_ of this. When Luna had told him - hushed against his ear in Tenebrae while he was wheelchair bound and healing - what his future was, he'd been amazed and mystified. He thought it would make him a hero, and that he would be happy. 

He is a hero, but he'd trade it away for anything. He wants to be able to fulfil the dumb dream him and Prompto had, and open their own chocobo ranch. He wants to live Ignis' foolish wish of being a farmer, and live by eating food they've grown themselves. He wants to experience Gladio's ideal, and comb the land hunting as if they were born to do it. 

Noctis spends a lot of time within the crystal crying, not knowing when he'll get to see them again. Be able to feel Prompto's soft hand in his, or Gladio's calloused hand ruffling his hair, or Ignis' gentle one on his shoulder. He doesn't know if he'll be able to hear Iris' cheerful encouragement ever again, or hear Cor's gruff praise, or Cid's crude life lessons. 

It's stifling, the grief and the anger and the anguish. It's all consuming and immense. This is worse than his father and Luna put together. Worse than loosing Insomnia. Worse than twelve years ago. 

He wants it to end.

And abruptly, it does. 

One moment Noctis is floating, unable to move in the abyss of the heart of the crystal. The next he falls heavily to the floor, back hitting pavement. 

It jolts pain in his old injury, and he's so surprised he just lays there. After so long (how long was it? Will Noctis ever know?) feeling nothing, the suddenness of it is jarring. Gently, he lifts himself up, getting to his feet.

Looking around, it appears as though he's still within the abyss, despite the concrete now beneath his feet. Noctis doesn't understand. He doesn't know why it would change so suddenly. Maybe the gods heard his internal pain and finally decided to take pity on him. 

His eyes continue to move, and he does a half turn to look behind him. Raising an eyebrow, he is surprised by what he sees.

Bizarrely, there was a gate behind Noctis' back.

On unsteady feet (how long has it _been-_ ), Noctis approaches. He looks up and up and up, but the top of the gate isn't visible. It's swallowed by a blackness, different from the void he's become used to. Both sides are the same, he discovered - it's all taken away by that different darkness. Only the bottom of the gate is certain.

Noctis is suddenly aware of the fact that he shouldn't be here.

But even as he thinks it, he lifts a hand to the gate. Before he can touch it, a voice rings out, somehow echoing in the void.

" _Don't._ " The voice commands. And Noctis was a prince and is now a king - the King of Kings - but he finds himself powerless to do anything except obey.

Dropping his hand, he springs backwards, eyes darting around, looking for the source of the voice. But- he finds no one. He's eerily alone.

"Hello?" Noctis calls into the black. "Who are you?"

" _Don't touch the gate._ " The same voice says again, ignoring his question. Typical. The first conversation he gets to have in ages and he's ignored. Whatever.

"I won't," Noctis tells the voice. "I promise. Now can you tell me who you are?"

There is a hesitation, a pause so heavy that Noctis can almost physically feel it. 

"My name is Minato," he says, and this time Noctis is able to place a location. Turning on his heel, he finds the source. 

It's- there's no way around it. Noctis is looking at a _kid_. He's probably around Iris' age, with unkempt blue hair hanging over one eye, and what looks like a school uniform.

"Who are you?" Noctis asks again, and his heart aches. Who is this kid, for someone so young to be stuck here in the void, unable to leave like he is? How long has Minato been here, for him to look so tired?

"I told you," Minato says, and covers a yawn with his hand. 

"I know," Noctis says. "I meant-" He runs a hand over his face, sighing. "How did you get here?"

"Oh." Minato shrugs, briefly tucking his hair behind his ear before it falls back into place. He gives up and leaves it where it is. With a half shrug, he answers. "I was given an impossible choice with only one possible answer."

Noctis swallows. "I don't understand."

Minato sighs, put off. "Who are _you_?" He shoots back. 

Noctis blinks, startled. "Sorry," he says. "My name is Noctis Lucis Caelum."

He waits for any sign of recognition, but Minato doesn't give him one. Humming, only he tilts his head, considering. "How did _you_ get here?" He returns, throwing Noctis' own question back at him.

It flies through the air and impales him, lodging in his heart and choking up his throat. "I was- _lied to_ ," he spits out, hands clenching into fists. He thinks of Ardyn, and his smug grin as he'd manipulated Noctis into knocking his closest friend off the train. And that same grin again, when he'd touched the crystal and the man had told Noctis his true name. 

Minato watches on, face blank and apathetic. "And- I was forced into a corner," Noctis continues, eyes narrowing. "I didn't have a choice, and this is the price I had to pay." He breathes, controlling the anger before it controls him. He knows what happened the last time his anger got the better of him.

Minato hums again, but the expression on his face is different, now. It's almost sad. Maybe it's even understanding. "Maybe we have more in common than I first thought."

It is the first meeting of many.

The next time Noctis ends up at Minato's gate, it's just as jarring as before. But this time, the other is already there. He reaches down to pull Noctis to his feet, even as he covers a yawn with his other hand.

Sometimes they talk. Noctis spends countless hours recounting his journey across the world. He tells the other what the treaty meant, and why he was going where he was going. Minato listens attentively when Noctis recounts the Fall, and getting to Altissia, and loosing Luna and then Prompto. It's easy to talk to the kid. Every emotion Noctis felt on his journey - the frustration, the anger, the sadness, the _grief_. It all spills from his lips, dropping into Minato's lap. 

And sometimes there isn't a need for words. It's something him and Prompto had found, too. Being in the presence of someone else is _enough_. They sit or lay close to each other, peacefully passing the time. They nap, they scratch patterns onto the stone floor, they gaze into the abyss.

Eventually, Minato opens up about his own life. Noctis learns that there are other worlds out there. He finds out what a shadow is, and a persona. He listens as the kid tells of his own story, starting when he was five and ending at fifteen. 

"It was an easy decision to make," Minato tells him, head pillowed on Noctis' chest. "We knew Nyx couldn't die - we'd known it since Ryoji told us."

"But you'd wanted to fight anyway," Noctis comments. Absentmindedly, he lifts a hand to card fingers through Minato's hair.

Humming, the other leans into it. "We did," he confirms. "After everything we'd been through together, I wasn't going to let those memories just- _go_. I was nothing, before Iwatodai. But they taught me how to live again."

Noctis had felt something similar, when Prompto had found the guts to finally talk to him again in high school, and he knew Ignis would be at his apartment when he got home, and Gladio was only a phone call away, and him and Lunafreya were still exchanging the notebook. Against his will, his heart throbs. He misses them all _so much_ -

"So what did you do?" Noctis asks. He thinks he already knows how this ends, but he wants Minato to tell it.

"It had to be me," Minato says. "Even if I wasn't the only one with the power of the wildcard, I wouldn't've _let_ it be any of them. I had the bonds, and Igor forged the way, and when the card of the Universe fell into my lap I knew what I had to do."

Noctis hadn't expected _that_. He knows what tarot cards are, even if he only saw then a few times back in Tenebrae. When Minato had started listing his own friends with a different arcana attached to them, he'd ticked them off against the ones that he recognised. Lovers, Priestess, Empress, Judgement. He'd figured that Minato would reveal himself as the World - with his impossible task and reaching for success, and through forging bonds, metaphorically having the world at his feet.

The Universe is another one he doesn't recognise, along with Aeon. He wonders if he really just doesn't remember, or if they were designed specifically for these kids to be able to achieve the tasks given to them.

"I was the only one who could do it," Minato repeats. "I did it for them, mostly - my friends. They saved me, so I returned the favour. It saved the world, and they got to continue living."

"But... but what did you _do_?" Noctis questions, when it becomes apparent that Minato has trailed off. 

Minato lifts a hand to wipe away the tears on his own cheeks, and Noctis jolts, surprised. He hadn't even realised the other was crying - he was doing it so quietly, without his voice quivering. It's as impressive as it is saddening. 

"I became Nyx's seal," Minato explains. "She isn't malevolent by herself - it's Erebus. He's the embodiment of humanity's secret desire to die. If the two of them meet, Nyx will cause the Fall."

"You're. Keeping them apart?" Noctis questions. That sounds intense, and like a heavy burden to bear. Holy shit, and he thought he had it bad. "How long have you been doing it for?"

"I... don't know," Minato admits. "Usually I let the abyss pull me under, and I'm not aware of anything. It might be months, it could be decades. I don't... I don't know."

"This fucking _sucks_ ," Noctis voices. Minato snorts. "How long do you have to do it for?"

Minato shrugs, shoulder jamming into Noctis' side. "I have options, I guess. My life force could drained entirely, and I'll die like that, or someone could come along and manage to get past me; break the seal. Or humanity's secret desire could change." He shrugs again; lifts his hand to wipe away some more tears. "I don't know. It could be forever."

The thought of being stuck here forever locks Noctis' breath in his throat. The thought of never seeing everyone again, of leaving the fight unfinished and letting Ardyn ravish the world - it fills him with dread and terror and fear and anger. It is unacceptable, and if the Six force it to be so then he'll shape the world into one where they are no longer needed.

"It's fine," Minato says, continuing on, heedless to the thoughts rocketing around in Noctis' head. "I made my peace with it. I knew this is what it would be like. I just wish I could be... less perceptive of it. I was good at sleeping, when I was alive. Wish I could keep doing that now."

"May you sleep peacefully," Noctis solemnly says, whispering it against Minato's blue hair. "Until you are no longer needed, and can fade away and be with those you love." 

Minato mutters a sleepy thank you in response, and they nap, both exhausted. Just like that, they're both out, two seperate lights flickering in the void.

Eventually, there comes a time where Noctis _kn_ _ows_. Minato helps him to his feet, and the slant in his eyebrows tells Noctis he can feel it, too.

"How long do you have?" Minato asks.

"I don't know," Noctis tells him, and reaches up to tug at a lock of his hair, ignoring the fact that his hands are bigger and he's gotten older. He feels forty, and if he finds out it _has_ been that long he will _never_ forgive the Six for as long as he has left and into the next life.

"What are you going to do?" Minato asks him, a question Noctis knows has always been on his mind. The kid has never been able to ask it though - Noctis guesses this situation finally calls for it.

He’d been glad for the reluctance to ask it before - he wouldn't have known how to answer. But now he does, and he doesn't hesitate.

"My destiny won't go away if I ignore it," Noctis says. "And no one else can do it. I am the King of Light, and I have to defeat the Scourge. And I- I miss my friends. I want to treasure them while I still can."

A smile unfurls across Minato's face. "That's a good answer. If anyone can do it, it's you." He lifts his hand, already curled into a fist. Noctis is familiar with this action - he's done it with Prompto, and Gladio and Ignis, countless times.

As he lifts his fist and knocks it against Minato's, Bahamut appears from nothing. He does not even spare Minato a glance - he looks down at his Chosen King and decides it is Time. 

The next time Noctis opens his eyes, he sees the ocean. It stretches forever into the distance, merging into the dark of the night. Beneath him is sand, and he can smell salt in the air, and feel the wind in his hair. And as he looks to the buildings that used to be Galdin Quay, he knows that he is back - that he is _home_.

* * *

Noctis sits upon the throne as king for the first and last time, and is ready for what is about to happen. He's known for a while, and he's made peace with it. Even as the swords of the kings and queens of old strike him down, he thinks of the kid who had too much on his shoulders ~~just as Noctis does~~ and gave his life so that the people he cared about could live ~~just as Noctis _i_~~ ~~ _s_~~.

Ardyn dies. It's bittersweet. It's ugly. It's been a long time coming. Within the space of a blink, the scenery changes.

"Hey," Minato greets him. "Back again." He blinks slowly, and covers his mouth as he yawns. "So?"

"So," Noctis says. "I did it. I fulfilled the prophecy."

Minato hums. "How do you feel?"

Noctis considers the question. "Relieved that it's over, I guess. Sad that I had to go. But I know I'll be able to see them again eventually."

Gently, Minato smiles. "Good," he says. "I'm glad."

And suddenly, Noctis is hit with the realisation that Minato doesn't get to have that. He has been and will _continue_ to be stuck here for- a really long while. It's fucking bullshit. It's unacceptable. He wishes there was something he could do.

"This better not be the end for you," Noctis tells him. "I'm expecting you to come and visit me soon."

"I'll try and speed up eternity," Minato says, the corner of his lips upturned. "Be patient until then."

"See you soon," Noctis returns, and within the space of a blink the abyss fades. The void vanishes, and he's somewhere else. There is light all around him, and he can see Luna and his father before him. He feels at peace, for the first time in a long while. 

He knows that won't be the last time he sees Minato, and he can wait eternity if that's how long he takes. This isn't the end so much as another beginning, and Noctis steps forward to welcome it with open arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Bahamut, looking at Noctis inside the crystal who just gets sadder n sadder: how tf do i get this dude to accept his fucking destiny >:/
> 
> Bahamut, accidentally looking a few universes over: oh holy shit i have an idea >scrambles to connect their universes just a little. As a treat
> 
>   
> yes i KNOW noctis wakes up on angelgard after the 10 years. I just wanted to skip to galdin quay 😔👊
> 
> Anyway ffxv is a shitty game n it made me cry n p3 is better n made me cry harder :') thanks for reading


End file.
